Let me first say that I’m sure this is probably not authentic Chicken Yakisoba. I’ve never actually eaten this classic Japanese street food on the streets of Japan, but I have seen Mark Bittman make this yakisoba on his show, The Minimalist, and I knew I had to make it myself. Those noodles looked so lip-licking good, were packed with vegetables, and it just looked so easy. In other words, it was just my style. ;)
This post contains some affiliate links, which means that we make a small commission off items you purchase at no additional cost to you.
What is Yakisoba Sauce Made Of?
Yakisoba sauce is a sweet, savory, and tangy mix of soy sauce, ketchup, Worcestershire sauce, and other seasonings. Some yakisoba sauce recipes include oyster sauce, which has a more rich umami flavor. I also added sriracha to my yakisoba sauce because I like things a little spicy!
What Does Chicken Yakisoba Taste Like?
The addition of ketchup makes this sauce super tangy, and a splash of Worcestershire gives it a uniquely sweet-umami flavor. I used a whole tablespoon of sriracha in my sauce because I really like my food spicy, but feel free to reduce that to 1/2 tablespoon or even a teaspoon if you want the sauce a bit more tame.
Can I Use Different Noodles?
Yes. I used ramen noodles because they’re inexpensive and easy to find. If you can find actual “yaki-soba” noodles, those will be the best choice. You’ll get the best price for yaki-soba noodles at an Asian grocery store. If you can’t find yaki-soba noodles and prefer not to use inexpensive ramen noodles, udon noodles or any other straight Asian noodle will still taste great drenched in this sauce.
Can I Use Different Vegetables?
The wonderful thing about this recipe is that you can use just about any mix of vegetables that you have leftover in your fridge. Just stay away from very watery vegetables, like tomatoes. Also, to make life easier, you can replace the hand-shredded cabbage and carrots with a bag of pre-shredded coleslaw mix (shredded cabbage and carrots).
Homemade Chicken Yakisoba
Servings 6Ingredients
- 1/2 head green cabbage ($0.41)
- 1 yellow onion ($0.55)
- 2 carrots ($0.25)
- 1 crown broccoli ($0.70)
- 1 inch fresh ginger ($0.52)
- 1 large chicken breast ($1.66)
- 2 Tbsp vegetable oil ($0.08)
- 2 3oz. packages ramen noodles, seasoning packets discarded ($0.50)
- 1 tsp sesame oil, optional ($0.19)
- 1/4 cup soy sauce ($0.24)
- 1/4 cup worcestershire sauce ($0.20)
- 2 Tbsp ketchup ($0.05)
- 1 Tbsp sriracha ($0.26)
- 1 Tbsp sugar ($0.02)
Instructions
- Before you begin, prepare the meat and vegetables for stir frying. Peel the ginger with either a vegetable peeler or the side of a spoon and then grate it with a cheese grater. Peel and grate the carrots with a large holed cheese grater. Remove the core from the cabbage and cut into thin strips. Slice the onion into thin strips. Cut the broccoli into bite-sized pieces. Slice the chicken into thin strips.
- Begin boiling a medium pot full of water for the noodles. Heat the vegetable oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. When the oil is hot, add the grated ginger, saute for about 30 seconds to one minute (its okay if it sticks to the pan but don’t let it burn). Add the chicken strips and cook until they are no longer pink (about five minutes).
- Once the chicken is cooked through, add all of the vegetables. Stir and cook until wilted (about 5-10 minutes). Meanwhile, once the water boils, add the noodles and cook just until tender (2-3 minutes). Drain, return to the pot (with the heat turned off) and toss with the sesame oil to keep from sticking.
- In a small bowl, combine the soy sauce, worcestershire sauce, ketchup, sriracha, and sugar. Use only 1/2 tsp of sriracha if you don’t want it spicy, use up to 1 Tbsp if you like it hot. Stir until the ketchup and sugar are dissolved. Pour the sauce into the skillet with the chicken and vegetables with the heat still on medium high. Add the noodles, stir to coat everything in the sauce, and heat through (just a few minutes).
See how we calculate recipe costs here.
Equipment
- Color Cutting Boards
- Chef’s Knife
- Stainless Steel Pots and Pans
Nutrition
Have you tried this recipe?Mention @budgetbytes or tag #budgetbytes on Instagram!Want more ways to dress up your ramen noodles? Check out 6 Ways to Upgrade Instant Ramen, Vegetable Stir Fry with Noodles, Lime Shrimp Dragon Noodles, or Pork and Peanut Dragon Noodles.
How to Make Homemade Chicken Yakisoba – Step By Step Photos
Prepare the Yakisoba sauce first, so that it’s ready to go when you need it. In a medium bowl, stir together 1/4 cup soy sauce, 1/4 cup Worcestershire sauce, 2 Tbsp ketchup, 1 Tbsp sriracha, 1 Tbsp sugar, and 1 tsp toasted sesame oil.
This is the “toasted” sesame oil. It doesn’t always say “toasted on the bottle, but you can tell this is the toasted variety because of the deep brown color and because it’s sold in a tiny bottle. Toasted sesame oil has a much stronger nutty flavor and only a small amount is needed for a big impact.
Next, slice up your vegetables. Thinly slice one yellow onion and 1/2 a small head of green cabbage. Use a large-holed cheese grater to grate 1-2 carrots. Cut one crown of broccoli into small, bite-sized florets.
Slice one chicken breast (about 3/4 lb.) into very thin strips. I like to do about 1/4-1/2 inch wide and about 2 inches long.
Grate about one inch of fresh ginger. Heat a very large skillet (at least 12″ diameter) over medium heat, then add 2 Tbsp vegetable oil. Tilt the skillet to distribute the oil, then add the grated ginger. Sauté briefly (about 30 seconds), then add the sliced chicken and continue to cook until the chicken pieces are cooked through.
Add the sliced vegetables and continue to sauté until they are slightly wilted, but still bright in color.
Meanwhile, boil a pot of water and cook two 3oz. bricks of ramen noodles until tender, then drain in a colander.
Finally, pour the prepared yakisoba sauce onto the vegetables and stir to combine.
Then add your cooked and drained ramen and stir until everything is combined and coated in the sauce. THE END. Easy, right?
<3 Chicken Yakisoba!
Sweet, tangy, and a little spicy.
This was so delish and a super hit! I did tweak the recipe slightly. I doubled the amount of cabbage and cut the noodles (I only used one pack of Ramen), used brown sugar (not white), cut the Worcestershire (only used one tablespoon) and replaced what I cut out with three tablespoons of oyster sauce. All of these items I had on hand except for the oyster sauce (which is relatively inexpensive, something like $1.50 for a bottle). We also like it spicy, so I definitely added the whole tablespoon of Siracha :) My girlfriend said this was better than noodle dish she’s ever had at a Chinese restaurant. It was pretty simple and versatile, I think I can change it a little to make a lot of variations. Thanks for the amazing recipe!
Soooo yummy! I had a half a box of organic whole wheat spaghetti (8 ounces in total) in my pantry so I used that in place of the ramen. We also did a package of tofu in place of the chicken and added in half a bag of shredded broccoli slaw mix to the veggies that was leftover in the fridge. I’ll probably stick with the spaghetti when making this in the future – it’s just as cost effective as ramen and a bit healthier.
I’ve tried so many of your Asian recipes this week that my huge chunk of ginger is all gone. I’m making this tonight. I’m sad that it won’t have any ginger in it, but I’m sure it’ll be quite tasty without it. Thanks, Beth!
I would suggest using rice noodles instead of ramen noodles. The ramen noodles contains a lot of fat! That being said, I am so trying this recipe :)
I love every one of your recipes that I have tried and my husband loves them too. They taste amazing and fit into our budget. I can’t wait to try this one out! :) I have shared you blog with my mom, mother in law and a friend. Love your stuff. :) I pretty much use your recipes for every dinner! :)
Yum! Dinner was a success! Thanks for yet another wonderful recipe! As we were cooking the MASSIVE amount of veggies we looked at the sauce and decided it didn’t look like enough… so we doubled it. Once we mixed everything in we realized we had WAY too much sauce. Oops. Should have stuck to the recipe :)
Thanks so much for your fast reply! I’ve loved every recipe of yours that I’ve had so far so I’m excited to try this one :)
Angela – Personally, I wouldn’t bother going to the store to get an onion. :) Green onions are great in Asian food (even better sometimes IMHO), so I think you’ll still love it. I like to sprinkle mine on at the end instead of stir frying them like I would a regular onion, but that’s up to you.
I’m making this tonight and realized I used up my last onion… but I have green onions leftover from another recipe. Do you think that would be an ok substitute or should I swing by a grocery store for the onion?
Don’t normally leave comments but ive literally looked everywhere for a good, simple yakisoba recipe and this is absolutely perfect. I had almost given up on trying to make it til I saw this. It’s usually the noodles that are my problem, I never would have thought I could use ramen noodles, thank you :)
Anon – You could use two chicken breast and just have it extra meaty :) There are TONS of things you could do with the leftovers, so many so that I don’t even know where to start! In the far right hand column of the site you’ll see a list of “tags”. Just click on the one for chicken to see all of the possibilities :)
Hey Beth,
Made this last night and it was delicious! I buy my chicken breasts in bulk like you do and freeze them up in zip-loc bags (2 large breasts in each bag). Since this recipe only called for one large breast, I followed it to a tee. What do you suggest I make with the leftover chicken breast? Also, in the future, do you think this recipe would work with 2 chicken breasts, or would that be too much? New to cooking! :D
Finally made this tonight and my kids loved it! Of course I add just a splash of the sriracha hot sauce, keeping it safe for the kids!
Marci G
Made this tonight and it was fantastic!
For a quicker weeknight solution I used the bagged coleslaw from the produce section instead of the cabbage and carrots. Saved some prep time on a busy night.
Thanks again Beth!!
Just made it and it was as good as it looks……